NASA successfully directed an aircraft at an asteroid to see if they could use this technology to ward off threats. So we can hit things in space. Yay?
🇨🇳 China’s economy will grow by 2.8% this year as opposed to 8.1% last year, mostly due to the nation’s zero-Covid policy, according to The World Bank.
🇷🇸 The U.S. and E.U. want some answers from Serbia about signing a new “cooperation protocol” with Russia.
MARKETS
Bitcoin
$20,161.34
-0.37%
Ethereum
$1,379.10
-0.39%
Cardano
$0.4572
-0.51%
Dow
29,260.81
-1.11%
S&P 500
3,655.04
-1.03%
Nasdaq
10,802.92
-0.60%
*stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00 am ET.
The Lead: What can we do with these $8 billion dollar things?
The U.S. Navy sent its “most advanced surface warship” to the western Pacific this week. CNN reports that this may “set the stage for the eventual deployment of U.S. hypersonic missiles to the region.”
The Navy says that this will “create a new level of battlespace complexity for potential adversaries.” This is because this ship, the USS Zumwalt, will reportedly be outfitted with a booster rocket that can fire missiles at hypersonic speed.
Why is this necessary?
Because the U.S. has ratcheted up the war talk exponentially with Russia and knows that this could lead to conflicts in Asia too. And the U.S. has continued to provoke China over Taiwan so if you’re going to provoke, you’ve got to flex too.
There may be another reason that the U.S. deployed this warship to the region: Because they needed something to do with them. The USS Zumwalt cost about $8 billion and was controversial because some in Congress wanted to use that budget to build 32 destroyers instead of three retrofitted ones.
One former Navy captain said this: “At over $8 billion each, Navy is struggling to find a mission for these presently lightly armed ships.”
Grocery Shortages On The Rise
Last week the Federal Reserve raised interest rates again, and prices as the grocery store are at their highest levels in decades. Shopping at the grocery store costs 28% more than using Hello Fresh. That's right. With inflation and sanctions driving up prices you might have noticed your grocery bills are going up. Do you want to save 28% on your grocery bill? Want delicious ingredients shipped right to your door? Want to prepare amazing meals in under 30 minutes? Want to get 16 free meals for trying it out? Then you're in luck. You'll get free food with that link.
Introducing HelloFresh. Get fresh, pre-measured ingredients and mouthwatering seasonal recipes delivered right to your door, America's #1 meal kit. HelloFresh lets you skip those trips to the grocery store, and makes home cooking easy, fun, AND affordable.
Even if you don't like it you just got 16 meals of free food delivered to your door because of Redacted. You'll have to use this link to get it. Use the code Redacted16 to get those free 16 meals.
Breast-Binders for Kids Without Telling The Parents
The Telegraph found that a state-sponsored organization is offering to send breast binders to children in the U.K. without their parent's permission. The organization is called Mermaids and it is a charity that promotes “trans equality,” according to its website.
Parents of children with gender dysphoria report that their children are pushed to alter their bodies with breast binders, puberty blockers and synthetic hormones early on in their treatment and that they are coached to change their bodies without parental knowledge. The Telegraph posed as teens and reached out to Mermaids for guidance. They found that the organization offered to mail a breast binder to the name and address of the “child’s” choice so as to keep it from parents. In this instance, Mermaids was told repeatedly that the “child’s” parents would “not allow” this.
Breast binders are devices that bind breasts flat to the chest. They have many contraindications. It turns out that the body grows breasts for a reason and that binding them can lead to problems with breathing, posture and spinal alignment. Mermaids has issued this response which really isn’t much of a response at all.
The Telegraph also found evidence that Mermaids tells children as young as 13 are coached towards taking puberty blockers and told that they are “totally reversible.” This is false.
Now there are calls for an investigation of the organization. According to The Guardian, they have received more than “£20,000 in taxpayer’s money from grants and more than £500,000 from the National Lottery.”
$700 billion. That is how much money the global public subsidies for fossil fuels were in 2021, almost double what they were in 2020.
$1.03. That is the exchange rate for 1 British pound, a record low.
$12 billion. That is how much Congress reportedly approved in spending for additional aid to Ukraine on Monday. Last Sunday, Ukrainian President Zelenzky revealed that the U.S. currently sends $1.5 billion in aid per month.
$400 billion. That is how much the Congressional Budget Office says that the U.S. student loan forgiveness program will cost taxpayers.
The Polish Hand Slap
EU President Usrula von der Leyen and Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki credit: giphy
Poland did not take kindly to being treated like a spanked child by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that this was a wake-up call for his country and for Europe.
Last week von der Leyen was asked what she would do if Italy elected a new government that was far right and not aligned with the EU's current policies. She answered with a thinly veiled threat saying this:
"If things go in a difficult direction, I've spoken about Hungary and Poland, we have tools."
In other words, "Look at Hungary and Poland over there in the corner with a dunce cap. You want that to happen to you?"
Europe has already halted 7.5 billion Euros of aid towards Hungary and instated similar punishments on Poland last year. You'd think they'd be more careful about pissing off Poland given that it is the West's staging ground for involvement in the war in Ukraine.
One psychologist says straight men are the "loneliest they've been in generations." Why? Because women want them to be sensitive and good communicators, many were not taught this skill set.
Sound like broad strokes? It is. That is why this was a controversial thing to say for psychologist Greg Matos. Some found this an extremely general and offensive thing to say about straight men.
Matos said that dating is highly competitive due to the popularity of dating apps. Straight men represent 62% of dating app users, he says, so their chances of standing out are low. Thus the new lonely hearts club.
